CFMOTO to pay $725,000 EPA fine for importing non-certified vehicles

Publish Date:

Mar 5, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – CFMOTO and its parent company in China will pay a $725,000 fine and replace fuel tanks in about 1,000 vehicles under a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that claimed the companies imported more than 12,000 ATVs and on-highway motorcycles without proper emissions certifications.

In the settlement, approved by the Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board, EPA alleged that more than 12,000 highway motorcycles and recreational vehicles imported by CFMOTO and its parent between 2007 and 2013 were not certified by EPA, in accordance with Clean Air Act (CAA) emission standards.

Of these, EPA found that 993 vehicles had fuel tanks that did not operate properly to control evaporative emissions, or gasoline vapors, and that about 1,400 vehicles were imported without proper emission control information labels.

CFMOTO Powersports Inc., (a successor to CFMOTO America Inc.) based in Plymouth, Minn., and Zhejiang CFMOTO Power Co. Ltd. and Chunfeng Holding Group Co. Ltd., both based in China, will pay a combined civil penalty of $725,000, the agency said.

In addition to the penalty, the companies must institute a recall and fuel tank replacement program to replace all uncertified fuel tanks with certified ones to prevent any excess gasoline vapors. The companies must also correct the emission control information labels for vehicles that are still within the control of the companies.

EPA discovered the alleged violations through joint inspections conducted with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and through a review of importation documents and other information provided by the companies.

CFMOTO Powersports Inc. is a Minnesota corporation that holds certificates of conformity and imports highway motorcycles and recreational vehicles manufactured by Zhejiang CFMoto Power Co., Ltd. and ChunFeng Holding Group Co. Ltd., both Chinese companies. CFMOTO America Inc. is a now-dissolved Michigan corporation that was the predecessor to CFMOTO Powersports Inc.

EPA filed an administrative complaint against CFMOTO Powersports in April 2013 and reached agreement on the settlement through an alternative dispute resolution process.